News on The Potato Supply Chain from Northern America

McCain Foods is laying off about 10 per cent of its workforce in Portage la Prairie this fall and Manitoba potato producers are expecting a leaner crop year.About 40 people out of a workforce of about 400 at McCain's in Portage are expected to be laid ...

Científicos del Servicio de Investigación Agrícola (ARS) en Dakota del Norte están evaluando la capacidad de nuevas variedades de patata de tolerar el almacenamiento a largo plazo.

Potato farmers selling potatoes to McCain Foods have seen their contract improved after going to arbitration.The farmers had complained McCain's offer price was not even close to what Cavendish Farms is giving its farmers. The issue went to arbitration...

In Manitoba, the potato crop is off to a record start - over half the potato acreage has been planted -, but that does not mean potato growers are pleased with how the spring has progressed. Growers of processing potatoes are still without price cont...

Potatoes are America’s number one vegetable crop. Per capita, Americans consume about 130 pounds annually.

Agricultural Research Service (ARS) scientists in North Dakota are evaluating the storage properties of promising new potato varieties that could greatly improve potato quality for growers throughout the United States.

Miembros de la Junta de Papa de Estados Unidos (USPB, por sus siglas en inglés) expresaron sus dudas sobre la salud de la industria de producción, comercialización y consumo de papas. Esperan que la industria sufra las consecuencias disminución de dem...

The U.S. Department of Agriculture will buy $18 million in fresh and frozen potatoes from the U.S. market. The announcement was part of a move by the federal government to purchase $161.4 million worth of  12 commodities for federal food and nutritio...

Conventional potato growers can topdress commercial fertilizer to meet a growing potato crop's need for nitrogen, but certified organic growers don't have that option. Meeting the crop's nitrogen needs during the transition period from conventional to...

Two more products have been recalled due to the possibility that they may contain salmonella-tainted hydrolyzed vegetable protein (HVP) from Basic Food Flavors – but fears of a large-scale recall have proved unfounded.At the beginning of March, Food an...

The Idaho Potato Commission’s (IPC) 19th Annual Potato Lover’s Month Retail Display Contest triggerred retailers to pull out all the stops: Floor-to-ceiling, head-turning displays and increased retailer participation demonstrated that this retail promo...

The Potato Gene Repository at the Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, Potato Research Centre in Fredericton is about to enter a new era with a $500,000 lab expansion.   What is a potato gene repository?   Think of it as a bank where more than 150 variet...

The last couple of years have been tough on our potato industry. With a high supply and a low demand, it's been a farmer's nightmare. But this year, farmers say things should turn around.Last year the potato industry was hit with the perfect storm. &qu...

Walker Brothers has received one of two Environmental Stewardship Awards from the National Potato Council.  Along with a farm in Washington State, Walker Brothers farm was praised for their leadership in habitat conservation for wildlife as well as pro...

Many readers are no doubt aware of last summer's late-blight infestation, in which a fungus, Phytophthora infestans, decimated local tomato and potato plantings. The fungus overwinters in southeastern United States but does not generally overwinter in ...

Idaho potato growers are taking to the field this spring without a collective agreement with major processors. The collective bargaining process broke down in Idaho last year following a dispute with ConAgra Foods. Growers blamed ConAgra, and the compa...

Production of winter and spring potatoes is estimated at 25.6 million hundredweight(cwt) in 2010, a 3-percent increase over 2009 and the highest level since 2004. (As of 2010, USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service includes California winter ...

U.S. sales of organic products continued to grow during 2009 despite the distressed state of the economy, the Organic Trade Association (OTA) revealed today in releasing findings from its 2010 Organic Industry Survey. In fact, organic product sales in...